Actually, I was just about to PM the OP AB (i.e., about that; where the Lamia is your acronym key!?) when I saw your post.

Pressed for time while researching the device and fixing the translation, I arrived at head-fi, noticed I'd been scooped in the moment it took to prepare and tried to post the details while sharpening the focus of the title (since this would become the master thread) -- all during a very short knosh break between projects.

In fact, omitting the K was unintentional. It's needed not only for accuracy but to show the connection between the model number and Astell & Kern.

ExpatinJapan: Could you possibly add a K to the title of this thread so that the model number reads AK100? Apologies for the dropped letter.

Now, considering the pricing should be a more reasonable $400ish, I'm HIGHLY interested in this. Plus I'm DIEING for an iriver comeback. We need a new player to stoke the fires again,...might this be the gasoline for me???

And speaking of FB, the Polish gentleman who received the prototype wrote this reply to two of my FB questions:

Quote:

[T]he player has a touch-screen navigation. But it has buttons for the player function. This Iriver has screen from Tovis. The picture is beautiful.

Other high-end DAPs have had pedestrian screens and UIs, which we've put up with because of their sound quality and ability to play higher-resolution formats. The AK100 appears to offer a more comfortable user experience:

For 490 crustaceans, we shouldn't have to squint at a Commodore display soldered to the buttocks of a Steinway.

* * * * *

In case the link posted earlier seemed unimportant to my fellow myopes, here it is again:

This might seem slightly offtopic, but for Spotify users like me, a DAP without Spotify (or Rdio, Pandora perhaps) is pretty useless.

I sometimes use Spotify at work. Even if you select the service's highest resolution files and the option to store them on your SD temporarily, the AK100 is overkill for that purpose. The whole point of a player like this is to play lossless and high-resolution files. Spotify doesn't offer either one.

i wouldn't get too excited about it unless they let the player play from both cards in a playlist or in shuffle mode.
otherwise it's nice, but not quite there. (if it does, then it might replace my cowon D2 )